Breast Tumor/Stromal Cell Interaction in Bone
Abstract
Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality among western women. The high incidence of metastatic spread of breast tumors to bone in these women is, for the vast majority, associated with osteolytic lesions leading to significant clinical complications including osteoporosis, hypercalcemia, intractable pain, spinal cord compression and fracture of the long bones that invariably impair the quality of life of those affected (reviewed in (1)). Whilst the mechanisms leading to the preferential metastasis of breast cancer cells to bone remain poorly understood, recent findings from in vitro experiments using normal breast epithelial cells or tumor cells lines (2, 3) and the development of transgenic or xenograft animal models of breast cancer metastasis (reviewed in (4)) strongly support the critical role of the bone stromal microenvironment in the metastatic process and point to considerable cross-talk between bone cells and tumor cells leading to the establishment of secondary tumors in this organ. In particular, the use of an intracardiac injection model (5, 6) has been usefully in unravelling the mechanisms and factors affecting bone remodelling and late stage progression of breast tumor metastasis to bone. However, whilst informative, current models are limited by the low incidence of spontaneous bone metastases and/or only allow the study of specific stages of the metastatic cascade.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA428577
Entities
People
- Normand Pouliot
- Robin L. Anderson
Organizations
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre